[Flashback] The Boy in the Grass (Bolden)

[Laria]

Laria was staring ahead, eyes glassy and unfocused. She was almost asleep, sat scrunched up on the chair. Shouting jolted her from her reverie, and she almost upended the small chair as she jumped violently. Eyes wide, the young girl glanced frantically round before focusing on the thrashing boy in the bed. Her face grew worried again. Is he talking...shouting about his mother? Perhaps that meant that he had regained his memories. That would be a good thing for him. He would be able to go back home. The medic did say that his memories might come back soon. She was afraid to wake him up though; he was moving so violently. Mourn? His mother died? Her eyes grew sorrowful for a moment, before she blinked in surprise. Bolden had sat up quickly, and Laria moved in the chair so she was sitting normally. She watched him for a moment. "Bolden?" She quickly reached over and soaked one of the cloths in the cool water, wrung it out and held it out to him. "Did you remember your family?"

[Bolden Denusk]

The boy turned at the sound of his name and his eyes cleared as they lit upon Laria's lovely face. Still in a half daze from the nightmare, he gratefully took the cool cloth from her and wiped his sweaty face and neck. The added moisture made his curls spring to life, lifting them higher and more unruly.

"My family?" he asked blankly, the boy recoiled at the loudness of his own voice against his battered head. His skull raged and ached as he brought a hand to his head. He winced at just the sound of their voices. Everything seemed too loud, too bright. Bold held the cool cloth over his eyes and said in a strained whisper,

"Pal...my..head...hurts..a ...little.."

He laid down on his left side to face her, his forehead scrunched in pain. The boy watched the girl's features, studying her fine bone structure and expressive eyes. Her silky golden hair curtained down to her shoulders, lifting gently in the stray breeze that came through the tent opening. Laria's amethyst decorations brought out the sky blue depths of her eyes, almost making them seem a delicate shade of violet.

Why did she ask about his family? Oh. He couldn't blame her. She must be eager to get rid of this useless, unknown boy she was stuck with attending to. Bolden couldn't even remember the nightmare he'd just had.

The palomino probably longed to be outside instead of stuck inside four tent walls and the smell of sickness. She looked like she belonged in the free air. The sun kissed glow of her skin and fair hair were evident markers of her love of nature.

'That pretty palomino is stuck in here 'cause of me. Why can't I remember things already?! Who is my family? Where am I? Who am I? Why hasn't anyone come for me?'

The young boy struggled to push away his own doubts; it only made his head hurt worse and his stomach ache with guilt and unrealized hunger.

' I'll chew on it later.' he thought, pushing back the misgivings of his own uncertain future. Like it or not, Bold's future depended entirely on Laria's care.

[Laria]

As he took the cloth, she picked up a fresh one, soaking it in the water again. The water for the tea had cooled, as had the broth, and someone moved behind her to replace them. She wrung the cloth out and folded it before replacing it on the table. If Bolden's current cloth grew to dry or warm, he could easily reach the new one. Laria nodded at his words, trying to keep the frown from her face. He didn't seem to remember at all. She was about to ask him another question when he spoke again. She looked at him as he did her. His honey coloured eyes held his pain, and hers may well have reflected it back to him. She couldn't help but be worried. "The healer said that it's good if your head hurts. He said it means you are getting better." The curls around his face and neck were damp and they had sprung up a little. The girl blinked, a smile threatening to tug at her mouth. She kept it back though; now was not the time. To focus on something else, Laria turned in her chair to reach the table, picking up one of the bowls of broth and a spoon. She waited for Bolden to sit up before handing it to him, and then took one for herself. She chose this moment to ask the question she had wanted to earlier. "You still don't remember? You were shouting about them."

[Bolden Denusk]

Bold's eyebrows raised in disbelief but Palomino wasn't a liar--she was a daughter of the Ankal.

"My head hurting is supposed to mean it's better? How is that possible?" He was about to ask more until the boy saw food. His expression was fiercely hungry and thirsty. He sat up slowly, careful not to jar the aching leg. Despite careful movement it burned a fiery path down to his foot and up to his groin.

'Food, just think of food and it will go away.' He thought swiftly, trying to take his mind off of it. He reached for the bowl, but didn't bother with a spoon. The thirteen year old took a large gulp of the broth, willing it to ease his raging thirst and gnawing hunger. He barely manage to mumble in a thank you between loud slurps and gulps.

The boy belched as he handed the bowl back to her and wiped his mouth on his arm.

"That was good. Thanks."

With hunger and thirst finally sated, his gaze turned toward what -might- be medicine. Bolden didn't want anymore of that stuff that made him too dizzy to stand and sick up all over the place.

He shifted his weight uncomfortably off the broken leg as much as he could.

"You still don't remember? You were shouting about them." Laria said to him.

He frowned so hard his eyebrows almost met in the middle. His vision went grey for a chime, as a sharp pain stabbed through his head. He put up a hand to the back of his head at the seat of the pain.

Bold didn't know what to say to her. She'd done more than her fair share of nursing him and Laria shouldn't be stuck in four walls with a stranger any longer. He knew for damn sure -he- didn't wanna be in here. Especially with an idiot who sicks up on himself and can't even remember his own family.

His face and ears flushed in shame. Palomino deserved an answer, but he'd been raised to never lie. Lie to give her relief or tell the truth and keep the free spirit chained to him, bound by duty?

"I shouted? What did I say?" Bolden asked, stalling to figure out a way to give the girl a break and some fresh air.

[Laria]

Laria shrugged. To be honest, she didn't really understand it either, but her father had gotten this medic himself, so she knew that he could be trusted. "Only your head though. I think that if your leg hurts more than usual then we should find the medic again." She placed the spare spoon back on the table and sipped her own broth. Bolden finished his quickly, and she stuck her spoon in her mouth to give herself a freehand. She placed his bowl back on the table before resuming her eating, politely ignoring the loud belch he had emitted. She almost didn't notice where he was looking, being so intent on her own food. With a light 'tsk' to herself, she set down her bowl and mixed up some of the tea the new medic had left before handing it over. As she watched his expression shift, her eyes grew sad. He still couldn't remember. And then he asked the question that she didn't want him to. Sympathy and pain shot through her eyes and she glanced down, fiddling with the sash wrapped round her waist. "Um..." She scrunched up her face for a moment before looking back up at him. "You said that... you were shouting at your father." Her expression had fixed in place, the worry plainly evident on her delicate features. "You were saying something about... mourning your mother." Her last words were quiet, almost a whisper, and she locked her sorrowful gaze on the boy.

[Bolden Denusk]

He had no clue what she was talking about but she looked very upset. His mother was dead? Why would he yell at his father? Wouldn't they be in mourning?

"It must've been just a regular dream. There's no black mourning braid in my hair." Bolden rationalized.

The boy felt a flush of guilt when he realized Laria had stopped eating to nurse him. He refused anything further and motioned her back to her seat firmly.

"Really, palomino you don't have to stop eating just coz I'm awake. You've got your own needs to take care of. At least finish your feed first."

Bold urged her gently, watching as she took delicate sips, like a young filly sipping at a spring. Her golden palomino colored hair looked so soft, he wanted to reach out and touch it. His amber eyes trailed over the delicate smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose. She was a Drykas, and not meant to be indoors so long. He fettered her freedom and had to do -something- to change that.

"Besides what does it matter about memory? Soon as a I can get a branch or a crutch, I should be outta your hair in no time." He said, putting on his best smile of casual reassurance.

"The best and fastest cure is fresh air, sunlight and horses."

[Laria]

Laria frowned a little, before nodding slowly. She was sure that it had not been a normal dream though. The intensity of the boy's shouts had unnerved her; she was almost positive he had been reliving a memory. However he was right about one thing; Bolden wore no mourning braid. She smiled and meekly obeyed, resuming the sipping of her broth. She kept her eyes trained on the bowl in her hand, but the girl could feel his honey coloured gaze on her. She ate till the bowl was empty and then set it on the table, finally looking back over at him. She returned his smile with a little one of her own. "We can get you one of them." She paused. "But where would you go?" She blinked at him. He had to see that his memory was important. If he wanted to get out of here as quickly as he was hinting at, then surely he would need to know where he was meant to be heading? "Well... if I find you a crutch, maybe I can take you outside? The medic told me that you weren't allowed to walk on your own yet." She looked at him sheepishly, under the impression that he, like any other young child, hated to be helped with anything.

[Bolden Denusk]

Frustrated at the confinement and questions he didn't know the answers to, he exhaled upwards, blowing the curls off his forehead for a brief chime. He couldn't possibly know the healer had to cut off the mourning braid to clean the wound. To the man it was just a bloody mess of hair that needed to be shaved off.

His leg ached unmercifully and he glanced at the tea. The boy definitely wanted something for the pain, but he'd rather go without than have that nauseating mix from before.

"Where would I go? To the nearest horse I could find and ask it what I should do." Bold answered with a charming smile.

On hearing her words, the guilt crushed his smile beneath its weight. So even if he wanted to go outside, the poor girl was still stuck with him! He wasn't going to be a burden to anyone. Not if he could help it.

It was hard to think when his leg and head hurt so much, but it didn't stop him from trying.

"Did the healer tell you that you couldn't have your own space and air and freedom? That you are chained to me for no reason?"

The thirteen year old most certainly did not want to be the reason for keeping her indoors and treated like a servant to him. It wasn't right.

[Laria]

Laria followed his gaze to the tea on the table. She picked up the cup, filled with the hot drink, and held it out to him. She could see the apprehension on his face. "This one is from the new medic. He said that the other tea wasn't good for children. He said..." She paused, trying to remember the medic's words. "...it was too strong." She pressed the cup into his hands. She blinked and smiled, her young face lighting a little. "You're fond of horses?" Of course, all Drykas loved the creatures, but she got the sense that this boy held them with a reverence much like her own. Laria's whole life revolved around her father's steeds, and she loved it. Her smile faded and she shook her head, blonde hair dancing round her shoulders. "No! But you're poorly and I want to help you." She looked sheepish, though she was unsure why she felt so. "I... we can go outside if you like. You could come with me while I see some of the young horses." Her voice rose at the end, lacing a question through her words.

[Bolden Denusk]

The boy gulped down the cup, trusting Laria's word completely.

"Fond?! More than fond--horses are my life!" The boy exclaimed, enthusiasm lighting his features from within.

'Did some -girl- just call me poorly?! Seriously? Not even.' Bold thought, his pride thoroughly offended. Then again, if a pretty girl -wants- to help him, who was he to argue?'

He smirked at his own thoughts, feeling the painkiller working as it should. The active young boy had been cooped up for almost 48 bells and it was unbearable!
The thirteen year old smiled hugely at her mention of going outside to see the horses.

"Let's go then! What are we waiting for?!"